Chapter 3: Northbound
1447 Words
The carriage left Crimson Fang territory before sunrise.
Lyra didn’t look back.
Not when the gates opened.
Not when the guards bowed to Kael’s convoy.
Not even when the pack she had called home for most of her life disappeared slowly behind falling snow.
She kept her eyes fixed on the frost gathering along the carriage window instead.
It hurt less that way.
The inside of the carriage was warmer than she expected.
Soft lantern light glowed against dark wooden walls while thick fur blankets covered the seats. The rhythmic sound of horses moving across frozen roads filled the silence between her and Kael.
An uncomfortable silence.
Not hostile.
Just unfamiliar.
Kael sat across from her, calm as ever, one arm resting against the side of the carriage while he read through several folded documents in his hand.
He had barely spoken since they left.
Part of Lyra appreciated that.
Another part found it strangely unsettling.
Most powerful men demanded attention constantly.
Kael seemed perfectly comfortable with silence.
Lyra shifted slightly beneath the heavy coat he had given her earlier.
It still carried his scent faintly.
Cedar.
Smoke.
Winter air.
Every time she noticed it, her thoughts became annoyingly distracted.
She hated that.
Especially after everything that happened.
“You should sleep.”
Kael’s voice broke the silence suddenly.
Lyra blinked and looked up.
“I’m not tired.”
“That’s a lie.”
His tone remained calm.
Matter-of-fact.
Not accusing.
Lyra crossed her arms.
“You don’t know me well enough to decide when I’m lying.”
One corner of Kael’s mouth moved slightly.
Not quite a smile.
“Your eyes are red from crying,” he said evenly. “You’ve barely blinked in the last hour, and you’ve been clenching your hands since we crossed the eastern bridge.”
Lyra immediately relaxed her fingers.
Annoying.
Because he was right again.
Kael returned his attention to the documents afterward like the conversation had ended naturally.
Lyra frowned slightly.
Most men she knew pushed conversations too hard.
Kael did the opposite.
He spoke only when necessary.
And somehow that made every word feel heavier.
Outside the carriage, snow continued falling steadily across the mountain roads.
The farther north they traveled, the colder the world became.
The forests looked darker here.
Denser.
Like sunlight itself avoided lingering too long between the trees.
Lyra pulled the coat tighter around herself.
“You’re thinking too loudly.”
She looked up sharply.
“What?”
Kael folded one of the documents calmly.
“Your expression changes every few seconds.”
Lyra frowned.
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It does to observant people.”
She stared at him for a moment.
Then looked away toward the window again.
Silence settled briefly.
But this time, it felt less uncomfortable.
“You really don’t talk much, do you?” she muttered eventually.
Kael glanced toward her.
“Would you prefer unnecessary conversation?”
Lyra almost smiled despite herself.
Almost.
“No.”
“Then we understand each other.”
That nearly made her laugh.
The realization startled her immediately.
How was she close to laughing tonight of all nights?
Maybe emotional exhaustion was finally affecting her mind.
Her chest tightened slightly at the thought of Lucien again.
The pain was still there.
Sharp beneath everything else.
Kael noticed the shift in her expression instantly.
“You’re thinking about him again.”
Lyra sighed softly.
“You notice too much.”
“That wasn’t denial.”
She looked at him tiredly.
“You want honesty?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes,” she admitted quietly. “I’m thinking about him.”
Kael remained silent.
Not impatient.
Waiting.
Lyra stared at the blurred snow outside.
“I keep replaying everything in my head,” she whispered. “Trying to understand when he stopped choosing me.”
Kael studied her quietly.
“That isn’t the right question.”
Lyra looked back at him slowly.
“Then what is?”
His expression remained unreadable.
“The right question is why you believed your worth depended on his choice at all.”
The words caught her off guard completely.
Lyra frowned slightly.
“That sounds nice in theory.”
“It wasn’t meant to sound nice.”
Silence.
Because strangely—
It didn’t sound nice.
It sounded honest.
And honesty hurt more.
Lyra lowered her gaze.
“You make everything sound simple.”
Kael leaned back slightly.
“No. I make things sound clear. People confuse those two often.”
Again—
Not what she expected.
She studied him quietly now.
The rumors about Kael Draven painted him like some violent northern monster.
Cold. Ruthless. Dangerous.
And maybe he was dangerous.
But not in the way she imagined.
There was something controlled about him.
Something disciplined.
Like every emotion passed through chains before reaching the surface.
“How old are you?” she asked suddenly.
Kael raised an eyebrow slightly.
“That’s your question?”
“It’s a normal question.”
“For normal people.”
Lyra rolled her eyes lightly.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The mysterious Northern Alpha act.”
Kael looked genuinely confused for half a second.
“Act?”
“You speak like every sentence belongs in a prophecy.”
To her surprise—
Kael actually smiled slightly.
A real one this time.
Small.
Brief.
But real.
And unfortunately—
It changed his entire face.
The colder parts of him softened instantly.
Lyra looked away before her thoughts became embarrassing.
“I’m twenty-eight,” he answered eventually.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“You’re younger than I expected.”
“Should I be offended?”
“Probably.”
Another faint almost-smile appeared briefly.
Then disappeared again.
The carriage hit a rough patch of road suddenly, shaking hard enough that Lyra nearly slid sideways.
Before she could react—
Kael caught her wrist immediately.
Strong.
Steady.
Warm.
The contact lasted maybe two seconds.
But the moment his skin touched hers—
Something strange happened.
A sharp pulse of heat moved through Lyra’s arm instantly.
Not painful.
Just sudden.
Kael felt it too.
His expression changed immediately.
His grip loosened at once.
The air inside the carriage shifted strangely.
Lyra stared at her wrist.
“What was that?”
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
Which meant he noticed it too.
Outside, one of the horses made a sudden distressed sound.
The carriage slowed abruptly.
Kael’s attention sharpened instantly.
“What happened?” Lyra asked.
The carriage stopped completely.
One of the Northern guards appeared outside moments later.
“Alpha.”
Kael opened the carriage door slightly.
“What is it?”
“The wolves won’t move forward.”
Kael frowned faintly.
“They were calm an hour ago.”
“That changed when we entered Blackwood Pass.”
At those words, Kael’s expression hardened slightly.
Lyra noticed it immediately.
“What’s Blackwood Pass?”
Kael stepped out of the carriage without answering.
Annoying.
Lyra followed after a moment despite the freezing wind.
Snow crunched beneath her boots as she stepped onto the narrow mountain road.
The atmosphere outside felt… wrong.
Too quiet.
The horses were visibly agitated now, breathing hard while the guards struggled to calm them.
Even the forest looked different here.
Dark trees towered around the pass unnaturally close together, their branches twisting across the gray sky like skeletal fingers.
Lyra rubbed warmth into her hands.
“Why does this place feel creepy?”
None of the guards answered.
Kael walked several feet ahead, scanning the tree line carefully.
Every instinct around him had sharpened now.
Dangerous.
Focused.
One of the guards lowered his voice.
“Alpha… we should keep moving.”
Kael didn’t respond immediately.
Then slowly—
He turned toward Lyra.
And for the first time since meeting him—
She saw genuine concern in his eyes.
Not observation.
Concern.
“Stay close to me,” he said quietly.
A chill moved down her spine instantly.
“What’s wrong?”
Kael’s gaze shifted toward the forest again.
“The woods are reacting to something.”
Lyra frowned.
“Reacting to what?”
Before he could answer—
A deep howl echoed through the mountains.
Not close.
But close enough.
The horses panicked instantly.
Several guards reached for weapons.
Lyra’s heartbeat quickened.
That sound didn’t feel normal.
It sounded…
wrong somehow.
Another howl followed.
Closer this time.
The forest suddenly fell deathly still afterward.
Kael’s expression darkened immediately.
“Inside the carriage,” he ordered.
“What’s out there?”
Kael’s eyes remained fixed on the trees.
“…Something that shouldn’t know we’re here already.”
And then—
From deep within the forest—
Something growled back.
- Writer
